Tag: immigrant entrepreneurs

Why is it important for places and organizations to connect the dots of immigrant entrepreneurship and local neighborhood economic growth? “Wherever you find immigrant growth you’ll find entrepreneurship. Some of the storefront businesses [in Iowa, for example…] would not be there without immigrant entrepreneurs,” Iowa State University researcher Sandra Burkesaid. In the Miami metropolitan area, […]

Immigrant entrepreneurs and small business owners contribute to local economies, often forming the backbone of neighborhoods. As part of his November announcement on immigration executive action, President Obama signed a presidential memorandum that creates a White House Task Force on New Americans to explore ways to strengthen federal immigrant and refugee integration. The task force […]

Last week, the Detroit City Council unanimously passed a resolution for Detroit to become a “welcoming city.” As Global Detroit notes, “The designation,” part of the Welcoming Cities and Counties initiative, “recognizes places that support locally-driven efforts to create more welcoming, immigrant-friendly environments that maximize opportunities for economic growth and cultural vitality.” As Detroit exemplifies, […]

Gabriel Berumen, originally from Mexico, knows the value of immigrant-owned small businesses for local communities. He started Las Palmas, a Latino grocery store chain, in the Pittsburgh area. Now, Las Palmas has expanded to suburban communities around Pittsburgh. Berumen’s chain of grocery stores is an example of how Pittsburgh, once the heart of America’s steel […]

The spouses of some H-1B visa holders could receive work authorization in the U.S., according to a proposed rule change the Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday. This change, as well as a proposal that would remove obstacles to staying in the U.S. for specific high-skilled workers, stemmed from an overview the White House provided […]

From Alexander Graham Bell to Google’s Sergey Brin, immigrants have founded some of the most iconic American companies, as the Kauffman Foundation’s Dane Stangler explained. “There’s something inherently entrepreneurial about leaving your home to start a new life in another country,” Stangler said. And immigrant entrepreneurs continue to contribute today. The Kauffman Foundation recently released […]

As a gateway to the United States, New York City has long been defined by the generations of immigrants who have made it their home. In a city of 8.3 million people, more than 3.1 million—38 percent of New York City’s population—are foreign-born, according to the 2012 American Community Survey. And in the case of […]

Whether as high-tech contributors within a large company or as the founders of their own businesses, immigrants play a critical role in entrepreneurship and innovation. Take the selection of Satya Nadella, an immigrant from India, as Microsoft’s new CEO. He originally came to the U.S. as an international student pursuing a master’s in computer science […]

When Jordi Carbonell, originally from Spain, and his wife Melissa Fernandez opened their Cafe Con Leche coffee shop several years ago in southwest Detroit, the couple founded their business on the idea that the neighborhood needed a central gathering place to create a strong community. Today, the bustling cafe is integral to life of the […]

Cedric Francois, a medical researcher from Belgium, came to Louisville, Kentucky, after hearing that researchers there were beginning work on the first hand transplant. Later, he co-founded two pharmaceutical companies. Suhas Kulkarni, an immigrant entrepreneur himself who founded Louisville-based IT firm Omnisys, understands the need for integrating and helping immigrant entrepreneurs get their start and […]